A design team mixes old and new to upgrade a computer science teacher's home in a flash

Call this house a heart to Hart. When Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri of Brunelleschi Construction set out to remodel the Maplewood, New Jersey, home of computer science teacher Earl Hart, they had to use their design smarts and volunteer labor to get the job done in just three days.

Houzz at a GlanceWho lives here: Earl and Yves Hart, and their 2 sonsLocation: Maplewood, New JerseyYear built: Approximately 1930

Carrino and Colaneri are cousins and partners in the design-build firm. They are also the stars of HGTV’s Cousins Undercover series, which follows them as they use volunteer labor to remodel homes for local heroes in one long weekend. In this case their mission was to make the cramped home of computer science teacher Earl Hart family friendly.

For the backsplash, the cousins picked mirrored tile with an antique finish. “We are playing with modern and traditional,” says Carrino. The reflective tile is a modern finish, but the antique patina speaks to the vintage nature of the home.

During the remodel the design duo uncovered a brick support column. “Again, we are playing with old and new,” says Carrino. “We feel that when you uncover a funky detail, it’s better to celebrate it than to hide or get rid of it.”

Prior to the remodel, the open space at one end of the kitchen had been a dead end. The team connected the room to the outside with a door. They kept the space open for a breakfast area. The vintage chairs are painted to match the cabinets and paired with a Knoll-style table.

“I love these pieces next to each other,” says Carrino. “Sometimes it’s great to put mismatching things together — the more they don’t go together, the better they work.” To personalize the space, the designers asked Hart’s students to write appreciative notes to him. They digitized the missives and used them to create wallpaper.

One of the main goals was to open the space to the outdoors, so Carrino and Colaneri installed a Dutch door that leads to the deck. “This family has small children,” says Carrino. “The door is perfect because it lets fresh air in while keeping the kids from running out.”

The new deck is finished to look as much like an indoor room as possible. “We want this to be a true extension of the kitchen,” says Carrino. The rocking chairs, occasional table and area rug would feel at home in an interior, but they are crafted of sturdy outdoor materials.

In addition to being walled off from the kitchen, the dining room was originally too small for large family gatherings.

AFTER: Besides taking down the wall that separated the dining room from the kitchen, the team removed a clunky closet that stuck out into the room and replaced it with open storage. “Not only did that closet take up space, it was a bottleneck,” says Carrino. “You can easily walk by this storage, and because the family is superneat, it works.”

Each member of the organized family is assigned a cubby. The bins on the upper and lower shelves help keep things photo ready.

Carrino says the dark brick fireplace, seen at right, “pulled the room down.” Because the family hosts neighborhood game nights once a week, the coffee table was always cluttered with boards and playing pieces.

New automatic sliding doors were added to Earl Hart’s office to give him some much-needed privacy. “He’s kind of a gadget geek, and these doors operate by remote control, so he loves them,” says Carrino. “He can go in here, shut the door and work on projects.”

Practical person that I am, and have live in NJ for a good part of my life, what happen to the wall ACs in dinning room and the heat sources thru out the house? The Dutch door is great, who makes it, is it double pane glass and is it air tight?

The house looks great! Good thing everyone is neat. What beautiful floors, don't make them like that anymore.

Hate it, frankly. So impractical. Who puts an open closet in a dining room? Tiny kitchen sink and mirrored back splash that simply reflects the everyday clutter on the counter top. No dishwasher, teeny table. They took away almost all the seating in the living room. The office has no practical work space. This is why I would never allow someone to remodel my space without my input, even for free. I would like to see an interview 6 months on, with people on TV who turn their space over to designers for the sake of the surprise reveal. It would be interesting to hear if the space and style worked for them.

I have a feeling no one would do this is given the choice. The money spent on the remote control doors could've went towards a dishwasher and the no one has a mushroom style cabinet in the dining room. It still intrudes into the room like the closet did

I haven't watched this show on TV - I find the whole premise of these more or less instant makeovers ridiculous. There are some odd choices here. I can't tell if there's a dishwasher or not. I don't like the idea of the open cabinets in the dining room - I can't really see eating my dinner looking at 'cubbies'. And who needs doors that operate with a remote control? On the other hand, the colours are really lovely.

We host a family game night at our house every week with lots of hooting and hollering. I can tell you this new living room is not at all conducive to family play. Two large, comfortable sofas were replaced by a small loveseat and uncomfortable cubes - you've lost seating. And where did the TV go? Do they have a family room somewhere else? Open cubbies in the dining room may be useful but not very attractive and everyone has to stomp through the kitchen and onto the hardwood floor with dirty wet boots to put them in their cubby space. Would have been better by the back door, where the tiny, useless table is.

I think it is a cute makeover. Not everyone wants a dishwasher. My mother raised 4 kids without one and now she has one she hardly ever uses it. I think the makeover has a improved the house a lot. The storage in the dining room, could have, as another poster suggested been put in the outdoor space outside the kitchen, but I think it is passable where they put it. I think taking away the seating in the family room was a mistake, but chill out people. It is a Makeover show so they have to DO something. The family can easily reinstate their sofas. These people have had a great makeover for free

I love the kitchen, colors and layout, but also that the color was pulled through the house. You gotta love a color to spread it around! Maybe the sink is small because there IS a dishwasher behind one of those cabinets. It might not be that small in reality. The office doesn't seem practical; no storage, but that may be on its way. Seems the 2 sofas could have been turned 90 degrees to flank the FP, but that looks much better. Don't care for the closet thingy either, but with 2 boys, if it's in their face, maybe they'll hang it up! Practicality trumps design.

These shows are more about the TV audience than actually living there, although people do. No doubt the homeowners made changes after the crew went home. I know I would. They probably have the extra sofa stashed in the garage. And the do-over isn't in every room (bathrooms? laundry? bedrooms?) so there's a lot we don't see.

Glad they got the free makeover, but the new spaces are impractical and overly trendy - they're for the designers and the TV viewers, not the family. For example, the updated living room probably looked cool on TV, but that family lost a much-needed couch for game nights. Same thing for the cubbies in the dining room - nobody wants to look at muddy coats and shoes during dinner.

@steinertbarbara: because that would make the counters far deeper than standard, throwing off a lot of other things:

- you can't use stock cabinetry, you must use custom

- then the stove has to be pulled forward as well, but then the fan hood won't come forward far enough to capture the cooktop

- you'll probably double the countertop price, because you have to buy an entire slab (often slabs are twice the width of a counter, so you can get two counters out of one slab--but now you'd have to use the whole slab but throw out a large portion of it, all because you needed to steal 6" from the other side)

What you say can be done in a custom kitchen, if there's no stove along the same wall, and if you're willing to pay (I've done it here at my house--not sure it was worth it). An easier solution is to just make the side gables along the fridge deeper, covering up the fridge's sides, but leave the counter alongside as is. Or, buy a counter depth fridge. (But I agree with you, when the fridge sticks out like that it's unsightly.)

I think people here are obsessing over details that don't fit THEIR lifestyles. Focus on the big picture, folks.

Not everyone needs a dishwasher. Coat closets by the back door only work if you want to block a window or never see your basement (at least not via door) again. Yes the kitchen table is small but a large dining table is within spitting distance on the other side. The living room has tons of seating, including chairs that are easily pulled in (look at the photo) (should they build the entire house around a few hours of game night once a week? Really?). And the coats in the dining room, well, doors, you know, about $10 apiece at Home Depot. The tiny desk in the study has me stymied but if someone wants to fix my house for free and I decide I need a bigger desk when it's done, I'll live through the agony.

yvesun, the family didn't do the renovation -- some do-gooder decided to "surprise" them an HGTV remuddling. These shows always horrify me -- the very thought of some hack TV show "designer" butchering my home and putting in what they think I should want is a nightmare. Worse yet, the family can't object as it's already done and they would sound ungrateful. The thought of someone coming into MY home and PAINTING MY BRICK FIREPLACE sends shivers down my spine. I keep waiting for someone to walk into their newly designed home and burst into tears.

I love the concept and the colour for a family of two. However, for a family of four I just don't think there's enough seating where more seating could've fit nicely. Dishwasher? Maybe it's hidden, maybe they just don't have one... who cares? You can get by without a dishwasher. Open closet on one side of dining room I say is just bad thinking. Considering that's where they will be constantly eating as there isn't enough seating in the kitchen space, they'll be eating next to the possible smells of damp coats and dirty shoes. Not appetizing in the least.

I remember watching Trading Spaces years ago (where neighboring couples renovate each other's homes). Anyway, this one woman came in to see the reveal and started crying and said she couldn't stand it and couldn't believe her friend did this to her home. She told them she wanted her old house back. I felt so, so awful for her.

I do hope that they have some sort of guidelines when doing this kind of work. I'm sure that it's easier to photograph a space when you remove walls (as they did here for the kitchen), but I'm in the minority that likes a separate kitchen. Hope the homeowner isn't! Otherwise, though, I love that divided door and the cabinet color. Really fresh.

@susanintoronto We couldn't agree more with you on your instant makeover comment. They are, in a word, "impossible" to pull off unless you have a construction crew working around the clock. On average, a makeover like this one would take weeks... possibly even months to complete for an entire house. Plus, there are almost always delays due to some unforeseen problem or other.

We have found that these HGTV shows, while good fun to watch, have set up some unrealistic expectations in the minds of consumers. This is why we create a Project Scope Timeline for our clients - so that they are included in the remodeling process and understand how it REALLY works (versus the television fantasy). We find that this really helps, not only with their understanding and expectations, but it also increases the overall satisfaction with the outcome of their project.

I absolutely love this re-do! I would need a dishwasher though. I would love someone to come renovate my home, and surely the family had some input. Whatever company or show did this! please come to my home!

As others have said, I love the colors. I sure hope the family loves seafoam green because there sure is a lot of it.The glaring design error in my opinion is the open storage in the dining room. I mean, do you really want to see boots and sneakers and coats while you're eating? What were they thinking with that one?

Nothing good is both fast and cheap, and nothing fast and cheap is really good.......... or, design in haste, repent at leisure. I can't take credit for either old "saw". I loathe these shows for exactly this reason, and the oft fostered unrealistic expectations thrust on real life situations for "off the camera" design. If it seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true, and in this case, apologies in advance, it's not very good. Sorry.

I really love this makeover, the kitchen especially. I felt that they did a wonderful job with keeping many of the original elements like reusing many of the original cabinets and the window, etc. LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors. It was so nice to see what I consider a 'real' remodel/redecorating job. Looks like they had both money constraints and time constraints like most of us do and they did an awesome job with it.

I find the kitchen quite charming although I would get tired of the turquoise cabinets rather quickly. I also think a counter depth fridge would have looked much better. And why is there no crown moulding over the fridge? BTW, everyone is assuming that theres no dishwasher but it's possible that it's integrated into the cabinetry. This is our galley kitchen; no one ever realizes there's a dishwasher hidden there.

I think most of the posts are waaaay too critical and sound stuffy! The redo looks fresh, traditional in a lot of ways, and practical for many many families. Too, too many assumptions that the owners don't like it just because you don't is absolutely insane! I Love the kitchen & colors they chose. However, I love the simple.

Being someone who lives in an older home, I think the kitchen and dining room are much more functioning (and nicer) for this family. I love the nice, neat storage for the coats and shoes. If they get tired of looking at it, it would be easy enough to make some cute fabric coverings. IMHO, you gotta do what ya gotta do to create adequate storage in your older home if you desire to remain true to the character of the home.

Although I'm not a big cook, the kitchen layout would bug me. There's no PRACTICAL counter space when using the fridge and the range - you have to take everything across the room to the island/peninsula. In the before pic, if the fridge doors had been reversed, at least you had counter space to the right to set things though no help for the range. Don't like the visual of boots and coats if I were sitting in the chair facing that open closet and don't think I'd care for the possible smell of damp or wet coats/boots no matter where I sat. And save me from something called an office with nothing more than a monitor un-connected to anything else. I'm in total agreement with others who dislike the ilk of almost all current HGTV shows - they are all silly and just for show.

Oh, I don't like the seafoam cabinets or accents at all. I think they would have been better off keeping the original cabinets. They could have painted them white? Now all of the charm of the home is gone. Also the marble is just wrong. If I was looking at this home for sale, I'd walk right out.God, I really detest most people's kitchen remodels. Anybody ever think that maybe original home details are NICE?

I like the remodel. Although it's not something I would personally want. The dining room looks BY FAR better than it did before. The before shots were INCREDIBLY dated. It does accommodate a more casual lifestyle though. My kids would have those cubbies cluttered in no time. Not for us. If the home owners are of the clean sort, it's ascetically pleasing enough though I suppose.

I love love love the kitchen. The lack of dishwasher is fine by me since we do not use one. However, I could not believe they took out the arched doorway into the dining room losing that wonderful detail. Nor can I believe they put those open cubbies in the dining room! That choice utterly perplexes me. I don't want to look at that sort of mess (and it will invariably end up a mess) in my foyer (which is why we put in a deep closet with doors), let alone while I'm eating or worse, while entertaining others. Plus -- are you carrying that crap from the door to those cubbies? Huh? At least put doors on those cubbies.

Judging from the width of the Dutch Door; the low threshold to the porch; the remote control doors to the office; the no-barrier approach to everything in the place; the amazing floors and the fact that there is mention made of "deserving teacher" I am going with:::

Someone is in a wheelchair here.

HOUZZ---just the least bit of background would have changed this whole story and not opened the family to a whole bunch of completely UNdeserved criticism.

The "Cousins" seem to like this color choice. I've seen them use it in 2 or 3 other kitchens.And for a family of 4 to not have a dishwasher is ridiculous. I do like the freshness of the design. Looks clean & cheerful. Also like the mirrored back splash. I had one in a previous home and for some reason, it added more light to the space.

I really like to see speed renovations and in terms of technical execution, this is a good one. I just dislike so many of the design choices. The nice thing about designing a house while you live in it is that you get to absorb the rhythms and patterns of your family's life. I understand that a lot of this was tricked up for a TV show and I hope this doesn't come across as too critical. I renovate some properties and I do it as quickly as I can too but this house is a real head-scratcher.

I also come from a perspective of what happens next to a property. Not only will the color of the kitchen cabinets get old in a hurry, it really doesn't belong in this old house in Maplewood, NJ. Good luck finding a buyer who will be happy to see these. And, yes, every house in Maplewood needs a dishwasher. The kitchen sink looks TINY too, but maybe that's just the photography. I don't think the bare brick works at all. It looks sloppy and out of place next to the marble countertops. If it had to stay, I would have painted it white. But I would have sheetrocked it over and cleaned up the look. The stainless fridge looks out of place next to the retro cabinets. Would have gone with white myself. The bistro table is a waste of scarce space.

The game table is dumb, ugly, and will break. Cool coffee tables are relatively dirt cheap and can make such a big difference to a room. The doors to the office are huge and probably useless as an effective sound barrier. They too are more complicated than they need to be and will break eventually. They look expensive too. I can think of about a billion other places to spend those dollars first.

Not specific to just this house, but unless you have a huge office or are actually meeting people across a desk, why do so many desks in homes face out? I think it is not only an incredibly bad use of space, but the person at the desk then has to look a a computer screen with daylight directly behind the screen. Would much prefer to see a simple desk against a wall.

The cubbies. I don't like them there but this is not a large house and concessions have to be made. And I like the actual design of them a lot. But the table is too close to them. That is probably one of the most actively walked stretches of the house. Again, it might be the photography but the table looks unnecessarily wide. After opening up the kitchen and adding a door in back to improve flow, why allow this choke point to exist?

I apologize about being so critical but this was apparently done with essentially no client input and 100% professional input. In my opinion, most of the client-directed renovations I've seen on this site have done a much, much better job.

Well judygilpin, if a family of 4 not having a dishwasher is ridiculous, how about a family of 8 (such as I grew up in) or a family of 14 (next door to us)? The more kids, the more hands, and many hands make light work. You might be surprised at the conversations you end up having with your parents/kids/siblings when you're washing and drying dishes together. Research has shown that parents and kids talk more when they do chores together. Maybe this family pitches in on the chores and enjoys being together with everyone making a contribution.

Doesn't sound ridiculous to me at all. Sounds like what normal families were like for all of recorded history until the past couple of generations.

I'm the FIRST person who would say that the majority of gadgets in our homes are a complete waste of unnecessary money and have more to do with what people think they need than what they really need. (Example: a kitchen aid mixer. I've been scratch baking since I was 12 and unless you work in a production kitchen, this is TOTALLY unnecessary- a hand held mixer and a bowl will do if needed at ALL) but a dishwasher? Let's just say that I don't believe our lives at home have changed that much in the last 50 years, with the exception that we might need additional space to store our computers (maybe not a whole room unless we work at home but most think they need it). But our lives have changed in the last 100. As someone who has lived in old homes ranging 100 years, a dishwasher is one of the first things I miss when I haven't had one. (In my first home 620 sq ft bungalow, we lost an entire cabinet to get one!) And those appliances were designed so that families could spend more time together doing things other than chores. I certainly wouldn't want to try to live without a washer/dryer!

Well, scarbowcow, what can I say ? I like to drink out of glasses that are sparkling clean and dishes without residue........call me a clean freak if you want. I remember growing up being made to dry the dishes. My mother and I didn't have meaningful conversations during that time. I was an only child, so the chore wasn't mine to share, it was mine to do.

But I'll tell you what else I find ridiculous, is any one who has 14 kids.

I could live forever without a dishwasher---now a clothes washer is something completely different!

I tried to go watch this show but can't get it to load. Maybe someone more tech than I can watch it and tell us the "Back Story". I still think someone here is handicapped and needs wider access and easier access.

The sink tho does look really small---I guess you could have another hole cut for a larger sink tho! And some of the angles of the pics are somewhat deceptive---I thought the fridge cabinet was way smaller than the actual fridge but in another pic it lined up fine so-----But using the front panel below the sink as a reference it does look more like an RV sink than a regular kitchen sink.

I don't understand tho the violent opinions of what is ACCEPTABLE for Maplewood NJ vs--where exactly???? Is there some Boro ordinance requiring INDOOR color choices for kitchen cabinets? And--again--MUST these people spend their entire lives worried about what the NEXT potential buyer of THEIR home might think? These are small houses on small lots built as Jersey was housing lots of workers who had a bit more money. They are generally small and dark and cramped inside. The fireplace is typical--and I am pretty sure it made the room dark too. How do I know? I grew up a few towns away and have been in many of these.

And if you don't have anything kind to say--and even in NJ we learned this---JUST DON'T SAY IT.

I wonder if a) the family had SOME knowledge of this remodel; b) if a really close friend helped with some of the choices so that the family didn't freak out and c) is anyone neat enough to keep that open cubby monstrosity neat enough to be in a dining room? I am pretty OCD about my house and luckily we have TWO closets with doors right at our front door. I am grateful to the builder for that. Having said those not-nice things, I think opening the kitchen up was great. I think taking out a sofa makes for better TV photographs and the family can give away the stupid table and add another sofa later. This house looks airy and clean and new. For anyone who can't afford a remodel, it's a BLESSING and I'm sure they loved it. As you live with a house, you make changes. Even if you designed it with a pro from the first minute. And didn't have a freebie from a TV show.

Where can I send the bill for my NEW dishwasher? Mine is older and I can certainly get dishes MUCH cleaner than any dishwasher I have EVER had with just my own two hands.

And---please stop with the judgements! The family with 14 kids might have adopted; foster; his n hers---we just had five Amish families move nearby and between two families they have 24 kids! No one told YOU to have 14 kids--or ANY for that matter. As long as they can afford to care for them and they have the interest in taking care of them----it is NOT your call!

Hope I never have to be subject to this sort of scrutiny from these types of people. Nothing anyone could ever do would be good ENOUGH it seems.

An auntie of mine is a social worker and arranged for one of these reality shows to help a family ---not going to get into which one here due to the prolonged raving on certain peoples parts---but the show DID benefit a family in MUCH need. What MORE do you WANT out of these things????

I would love to know where they got those sliding doors. I don't need them to be remote controlled but I liked the idea of having a door but not having to deal with the space that a traditional door requires.

Golly, halleycoment, I wasn't making a judgement....just voicing my opinion. All this started with a comment about a dishwasher? I'm happy to hear that you can wash yours better by hand. I can't, that's why I have a DW. Happy New Year.

I too surmised that this do-over involves accessibility. The open coat and shoe cubbies make good sense if you think of the new kitchen/dining area as a busy family room with homework, craft projects etc. all happening on that table. The table with two chairs by the small kitchen area is a good spot to perch while removing shoes or to sit while perusing a recipe etc.
The scorn heaped on this makeover puzzles me just as much as the lavish praise heaped on the home interiors that look like glitzy hotels.

Why would anybody in their right mind let Houzz do an article on their work or home. Pick, pick, pick! Too many people are expressing such negative remarks. The redo is fresh and clean. On cloud dismal day, walking to this home would certainly bright my mood. The fact that their neighbors and friends wanted to do something for this man and his family should make them very happy.

Unless it is a multimillion dollar with another million spent on decorating, IMO some posters cannot wait to tear it apart. Not everyone can live in 5,000 sq. ft. house or wants to, with a unlimited budget to decorate.

Thank you Houzz for sharing a home about real people.

A lot of us have a fantasy house, one would love to own but know we never will. Houzz let's us see these homes. Then we do a reality check and quite a few are happy with what we have.

berinlist, houzz is a design site. The critique is natural in this setting. I don't think anyone has anything against the family and surely no one is knocking them. The critical eye is turned toward the designers of the project (which also doesn't have a thing to do with the family). You and everybody else who said it are right- if the owners are happy, it doesn't matter. But then if you post it, designers, design enthusiasts and home owners will discuss what they like and don't like about it. That's sort of the point.

I have relatives that live in Maplewood. There are so many charming houses in that town - some are very spacious, but many are very tight! What I like most about the remodel are the dutch door and the exposed brick. I don't think I could live with the dining room as I feel suffocated by clutter and the mudroom style lockers/cubbies would always be a disaster if it were my family living there!

I really like these guys and most of their designs. However, this house is a miss - to me. Starting with the cubbies in the dining room...who wants to look at gear that belongs on a back porch during dinner? These guys are clever - I would think they could have designed doors that would work with their other design choices but cover up the cubbies. Also, they removed a couch from the game-living room...but is there enough seating for family and guests on "game" night?

I get that the rooms are staged (to death) for the photoshoot, but often they don't look at all like someone actually lives there. They don't look functional, they look like a museum. Like having a stack of books support a coffee cup - really? I think we can find a good balance between 'stagey' and 'real people live here'.

I have always "staged" everything in my home since my bedroom when I was 9 years old. I never thought of it as staging, just being aesthetically pleasing. My homes have always been very livable, but always beautiful. I'm a stickler for all being in proportion. And , yes, if a coffee cup looked better on a stack of books, I'd do that. That's just me, and it makes me and my family happy.

I think it's gorgeous and functional. I love the cousins' show(s) because they have a really good aesthetic; my only issue with them is that they love the super-shiny modern cabinets, which I don't. I was so happy to see the cabinets used in this makeover! I love them, and agree with the commenter who liked that the color repeated throughout the main level of the home. I was a little worried about the sofa removal myself, but that can be fixed if necessary, and I have no issue with painting the dark, stodgy fireplace. I also don't have an issue with the dining-room cubbies. Our coat closet is at the midpoint of our house, between the front door and kitchen, so we don't have a space right inside the door for storage. I would love this solution; if you'll notice, there aren't sixteen coats and nine pairs of muddy shoes per person. For everyone screaming about the office - there's a credenza or file cabinet visible in the corner, and the owner is a teacher, which means he doesn't work from home full time, so doesn't need some crazy desk space. I DO work from home almost every day, and my desk isn't much more than that and it's fine. If he was an architect or some sort of designer, yes, he would need more space; when your desk is used for paying bills or grading papers or computer work, you don't need a lot of desk. (And who's to say that's not the owner's own desk??) I think it's gorgeous, and I think Anthony and John have huge hearts; the hard work they did after the disastrous flooding in Jersey and New York was beautiful.

Thank you for a sensible and well thought out comment on this house! Why some are going crazy bananas over some aspects is well beyond me!

I run a business form my house and my "office" is my bedroom ---which means my laptop perched on the top of a BASKET on a KNEE WALKER---and I use the bed to sit on. Not the best solution but when I became handicapped I "lost" my actual office and it's lovely desk and storage and photo shooting space. I can not manage the steep steps to the basement where my former office is located. People make do with what they can and what they have.

I still have to wonder about the comment on how the COLOR is not "fit" for Maplewood!!!!!! I know they have restrictions down there but seriously? The Cabinet Police???? LOL!!!!!!

so I guess I will be wading into a mess of trouble that will sound like I am choosing sides in what appears to have taken a turn of commenting on one another instead of the room. Of course right above me is someone thinking that if you don't like it don't say anything. That would make this site fairly useless I would think. No one has gotten ugly but it has been close on the silliest of things. If I have game night and two boys in the house I have a dishwasher or a big two bowl sink and not a bar sink. The mirrors reflect light in the kitchen but I would have used a single piece as I have seen in others. Jst so there isn't the seams. I have to agree that the space is limited in regards to the house and cubbie hall tree thing but the dining room is the worst place when you have now put such a small table else where. You are also now going to use the dining table as seating on game night because the sofa was removed so that will also need to stay clean. As one person said and shows always do, there is no computer at the desk. I can tell you that I bought a writing desk made more for a laptop and now that I am using it for the desktop it is cluttered with equipment. I dropped the cpu to the floor and have hardwoods in a new house (it was 7 yrs ago when I bought it) and I have never seen the dust I now have in the case of the computer! So I need to remedy that. Things to consider. I like the color. Don't mind the brivk being painted but am not crazy about the color of cabinets in the living room in that manner. I like carrying it in there with pillows or something. But it looks like a coloring book outline. So that would be an adjustment now for me to paint all white and add accents in the color. This show tends to do things right structurally speaking from what I have seen and the ktchens are the cousins forte' and not the rest of the house. They very rarely if ever have slacked on materials as using cheap stuff. They often get cabinets from italy and are shipped over. The family will have to adjust and tweak and hope they didn't get rid of the second sofa. Adults may come over and those cubes would be horrible. But they have the bones in there done with a pleasing pallete. Now it is time for them to finish it out in their style.

I hope you are not taking what I said above you as "Don't say anything" as that is not at all what I wrote or meant. What I would say is that trashing this place OR the family is wrong---no one but them knows their circumstances.

Trust me I am NOT Suzy Homemaker nor am I free from all judgements just don't feel that this is the place to air them. I have not seen one of these "Cousins" shows ---I tried and not only would we have to pay per view---which was---odd---but since it was something like 2 bucks we decided to try anyways---but we CANNOT get the thing to air. I would like to see this and if anyone ELSE has managed to WATCH it I would like to hear if there is MORE to this story than we have here. I can't believe that there are this MANY comments and yet--no one from HOUZZ or the designers etc has weighed in here!!!!

The Kitchen cousins as they had been known and have had every new title of a show anyone can have do nice work USUALLY. All the shows are on HGTV. Kitchen cousins, cousins on call and finally undercover cousins. The homeowner doesn't get any say in the design from what I gather, NO INPUT. So the comments are directed at the designers making the final product for production instead of function. When they had Kitchen cousins they had it right most of the time but I did see them eliminate things that would be needed JUST for style points but not as often as seen in this one home. Even if they left this moster of a cubbie in the dining room out I am sure they could have put some hooks on a pc of oak board and hung it near the back door and a bench that had the cubbies, see Pier One Store, I bet they have and put it under the hooks on the wall it would have saved room and bad odor with about the same storage. A simple storage ottoman by the back door would have worked. What I should have said it the criticism isn't at the family but at the design. And as a general topic it is common what would work in real life for the masses in the redesign and what wouldn't. I will tell you as a realtor that I would not want to try to list the house. Why? Because I would have to go in and let them know that while the design may or may not work for them. It highlights the lack of storage in the home. That affects pricing. If you are going that far with the storage put a bench near the door and an armoire in the new office room. My theory on all the shows...they are capable with a right budget but I think they are considered also HGTV eye candy. No harm nor foul in my eyes. Sorry if I came off harsh.

The photos are very deceiving. The space by the new back door is very small. There is a window on one wall, back door on the other and a door to I guess to the basement. There is no room to put any type of storage because of the doors.
The two couches, if you really look at the different views, are more than likely two love seats. If you look closely at the pictures on the construction company site you can see how deceiving the photos are.
Look at the title, " 1930's Bungalow" none of the rooms are of any great size. For a school teacher to be able to afford a house in Maplewood, NJ, I give them a lot of credit. But is not one of the large house in that town.

These bungalows are generaly TINY. I am not sure who they were built FOR---I suspect they were built for "starter homes" with not the best materials of the day and with little storage. Of course back then people did not have the NEED for that much storage as they didn't OWN the vast amount of stuff we have available today. I have been in many if these when I lived in that area and two people in a room can feel overwhelming. I remember being in one and having to go into the basement and being surprised it was DIRT--now I lived in a house built in the early 1700's and IT had a sand stone foundation and a poured concrete floor! (No doubt this was added later ) And to my eyes--dirt floors were ONLY found in the more rural areas!

These little places were generally cute but certainly not spacious. I would suspect that the owners would have to either cobble together storage closets in whatever nook they might find or use armoires. If you want to see TINY I suspect the bathroom in here would meet that as a definition. I think the "Cape Cod" that was later to be found everywhere was a sort of "expanded" version of these with bigger rooms and two baths. And some closets! What you might aspire to when you had a few kids.

I still wish some one from HOUZZ would check on this and get back to us on some of the questions that have been asked here!!!!!!!

I have relatives who live in Maplewood. There are some very grand, beautiful old homes in that town, and there are many more charming "bungalows". Their house is very tight on space, too, and I agree with HalleyComet that back when this house was built, people didn't have the kind of "stuff" they do now. Things were about necessity, espeically if a house was built during the depression. As for the cost of living there, I bet that little bungalow is paying close to 15K a year in property taxes alone.

I suppose the bungalow is a catch all phrase as I have seen it used for the craftsman type house in the cities with the wide front porch and a posrch swing on them. Maybe a single dormer in the front and center above the porch. I lived in one as a kid near Churchill Downs in Louisville on a street that was divided by a tree filled swath between oposing traffic. Very nice neighborhood with nice wood detailing Porch swing on either end of the porch facing one another. Often in the center pass through areas where they have the dining table was a floor register centered in the house with gas heat that just radiated, no blower on it. Had to be careful not to leave snow covered shoes on it to long to dry or they would cook and shrink if leather and melt if Rubber!

@LEEFORDP---
Yes the taxes are WHY we don't live in NJ now! The taxes can eat you up and spit you out. They claim it is for the schools and the infrastructure--but----it leaves little to be spent on ANYTHING else. I often wonder HOW the regular normal people manage to live there any more. My parents had money enough to live there at the time---we all moved away in the very early 80's-----but barely and I knew I would never have that income---some of which came from rental property. In Bergen County--one of the highest tax bases in the world. Very few people I know who lived there then live there now as they can't afford to.

When I go back I wonder----how DOES the waitress or the gas guy or the teacher AFFORD to live there! Even friends who inherited houses--and thus don't have the burden of a mortgage---have in some cases had to sell up and move to be solvent. Others work several jobs and basically are owned BY the house. One I know won't or can't move because it WAS his parents house! Not some grand old family homestead from the Year One---just a Victorian the parents bought post-war. And he is paying almost $20,000 a YEAR. For---what????? That's a LOT of money for---sentiment.

The "Bungalow" term is I think more of a local term to that area--I know my mother who grew up in the NJ and PA area always referred to these little places as bungalows. She did not refer to the Craftsman houses this way tho! I know a lot of these had porches added (or maybe even built when the house was) and a lot of those were closed in as space was needed. If they were "Down The Shore" they were called cottages. They are much more suited to summer houses at the beach when you could spend more time outside. Altho I never lived in one I did live in a two story version that had been converted to two apartments---no insulation; enclosed porch; living room kitchen and two small bedrooms. Closets? We don't need no stinkin' closets! The wood work was very nice altho I don't think it was anything special that would not have been in the same house a block away. It DID have a nice "Pantry" built in between the living room and the kitchen with glass doors and drawers--I MISS that!---and the kitchen had---an old sink and a "countertop" of about 18" over a trashy cabinet. And a small built in in a corner about 3 feet long by about 14" deep. That was IT. We had to supply the fridge and stove and any OTHER kitchen storage. You could reach out of the window on one side and touch the house next door. And you could hear EVERYTHING from the upstairs!

These were built I suspect for workers and "regular" people who came in from farms or out from the city--I knew several families who lived in these type houses who had moved out of NYC for their kids futures. And they were cute little houses--but "Little" was the word!!!! And I am pretty sure that as soon as they could they moved to larger quarters! Back then taxes were probably high-er than other areas but not THIS out of line. Even in some higher end areas of NY the taxes are not THIS high!

A bungalow in North America is typically a pre- or just post WW2 working-class home (small) without an attached garage, usually one story but occasionally 1 & 1/2 or with a basement (depending on location). I've seen many different home styles referred to as a "bungalow" but most folks think of Craftsman or Mission style bungalows when they use the term, though a Craftsman doesn't have to be a bungalow, etc. I am unfamiliar with the area of this home but this is the "correct" use of the term, though I will state again: "bungalow" is often a misused term and that doesn't mean a whole lot since we all have to agree on semantics for them to apply here. Example, I recently saw someone refer to a mid-century ranch as a bungalow, which would be an incorrect label since a ranch is not a bungalow. And yes, I've lived in both.

Friends of ours in Demarest are paying OVER $20k per year for a not fabulous "Victorian"--not one of the great big ones with stained glass and polished oak moldings either--your basic 1890's and showing it NJ house. Where they have been buying these and tearing them down and building to the lot lines with sub standard materials---where they tore DOWN homes built with actual standard size wood framing and tiles etc. When we happened to see one being built hubs went and looked and claimed all the materials were crap. He used to be in the building trade---now he works indoors selling to the contractors and happy homeowners!

Altho we complain about OUR tax rate ---I dunno WHY a home in Queens that lists for say $900k has LOWER taxes than MY tiny single family maybe $90k in Cow Town does!!!!---but this will factor heavily in where we decide to move. And our tax rate doesn't even BEGIN to approach the rate of Bergen and etc. I have some friends that are still there and I cannot understand how they let these houses hold them hostage! Now if they HAD the money to pay the taxes and upkeep--that wold be one thing. But some do not. One "explanation" I got was---"Well the house is not worth as MUCH as it was 15 YEARS ago"----Well duh but--heres the thing---You can wait around dumping the equivalent of a NEW CAR into the taxes EVERY YEAR or you can SELL the beast for what it IS worth right now and move (these are people with non area specific jobs or approaching retirement) and SAVE all of that money AND have the money you WILL get from the house sale. Seems like a no-brainer to ME!!!! Especially when these people inherited the house---and moved BACK to NJ to care for it---and now they seem to be sucked into the vacuum of NJ and can't get OUT! And the house has appreciated a LOT since their parents bought it--so--ALL of what they take OUT of it is---profit. Minus whatever upkeep and taxes THEY paid into for the time they were there. They all see the "wisdom" of this--and NONE of them have ties there--yet--there they still ARE!!!!!

I go back and see that some of the same places are still in business---for which I AM grateful!!!!--but for the most part I don't even recognize it. The forboding old real Victorian across the street from my old house had a large "ditch" behind it where a lovely stream ran down to the Hackensack. Now this has been filled in. The house was torn down and a--bank is there. I am extremely lucky that the 1700's house I grew up in is being used as a design firm and they have taken care of the place and NOT torn it down to make "room" for a larger McMansiion or an office or a Starbucks. The Boros have NO respect for the heritage of the area and recently some of the lovely old (early 1700's) Dutch sandstone homes were torn down altho people fought to keep them. I just don't "get" how these Boro Boards ALLOW this. In an area where they can come in and mow your GRASS if it is deemed "Too High" they can't find SOME way to ordinance historic structures?

Oh and when you run into people touristing thru here we play the Where in NJ are YOU from???--game--and we ALWAYS win! My kids thought this was bogus until they learned---from friends and cousins who live in NJ---that Bergen County ALWAYS wins--and the specific towns hubs and I grew up in rank at the top level. Just another fun way to pass the time in Tiny Town!!!!

The Biker Guys are the funniest with this tho---we ride a fairly rare bike so we get a lot of comments and of course you have to exchange bona fides. They always THINK they have it over us hicks but---not so much!!!!!

There are several things done in the house that doesn't make sense as others already pointed out. Some can be easily fixed (more seating in living room, more work space in the office), but some that would take more money and labor. If there is no dishwasher in the kitchen that's fine, not everyone wants or needs a dishwasher, but the sink is way too small if you're washing everything by hand. The organized cubbies in the dining would be an eye sore for dinner guests. I agree that it could have been better placed in the breakfast nook area. They did a good job making the house feel airy and open though.